Washington -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Close to 20 inches of snow piled up at the nation 's capital as a blizzard pounded mid-Atlantic states Saturday , cutting power to hundreds of thousands in the region in what the president referred to as `` Snowmaggedon . ''

Snow was falling from southern Indiana eastward to New York City , Washington , Pennsylvania , Delaware and the New Jersey coast .

President Obama kept to his busy Washington schedule amid the swirling flakes , and ditched `` the Beast '' -- his souped-up Cadillac limousine -- for an armored , four-wheel drive Chevy Suburban capable of trudging through the several inches of snow .

Despite plowing and shoveling , the continuous snow made for a slippery White House driveway . Before the 15-vehicle presidential motorcade pulled out of the driveway headed to the Capital Hilton for Obama 's speech to democrats , one of the emergency vehicles lost traction and slid into an SUV . No one was in the car at the time . Flights canceled , highway crews mobilized

About 19.5 inches of snow fell at American University in Washington over two days , and was on track to possibly break a record . The capital received 28 inches of snow in the `` Knickerbocker Storm '' of January 27-28 , 1922 .

The blizzard has left hundreds of thousands of customers from Virginia to Pennsylvania without power , utility companies said . As of 12 p.m. , Dominion Virginia Power had restored electricity to 101,000 of 207,000 customers who were without power Saturday morning , the company said .

In Maryland and Washington , more than 104,000 Pepco customers were in the dark , the utility company said . The majority , or 81,324 , live in Montgomery County , Maryland , and 9,587 live in Washington , according to Pepco .

In Philadelphia , a reported 26.7 inches had fallen at the airport by 1 p.m. , the National Weather Service said .

`` We are getting absolutely clobbered this morning with snow , '' said Steven Steingard , a lawyer who lives in suburban Philadelphia . `` We have about a foot already and they say it will continue for 10 to 12 hours more . ''

The storm also may produce a record snowfall for Baltimore , which has 21 inches of snow so far , according to the National Weather Service . Virginia snowman is taller than a house

In College Park , Maryland , snow-laden power lines drooped onto branches , causing power failures . One city resident , Ben Hampton , told CNN he could could hear electrical transformers popping .

Annapolis , Maryland , had 18 inches of snow by Saturday . State officials at the briefing said 2,400 pieces of equipment were trying to clear highways . The state also was relying on 300 National Guard members to help with ongoing weather trouble . Check on traffic and road conditions

More than 750 personnel are clearing roads in Washington , Mayor Adrian Fenty said . But the heavy , wet snow has even trapped some plows , Washington Department of Transportation director Gabe Klein said .

Flights were canceled at Washington-Baltimore area 's three main airports and at Philadelphia International Airport . Amtrak has canceled many trains in and out of Washington , and Greyhound has been halted until 1 p.m. Sunday , Klein said . Check on flight delays

On Friday , a weather-related accident in Virginia 's Wythe County left two dead , state police said . A father and son stopped on a shoulder to help injured occupants of a disabled vehicle . Minutes later , a tractor-trailer jackknifed and struck their van while trying to avoid hitting the disabled car .

The father and son died at the scene , state police said .

Virginia state police said the accident was one of many crashes and disabled cars reported .

Winter storm warnings were in effect from southern Indiana eastward to New York City and south to North Carolina , with blizzard warnings for Washington , Delaware and the New Jersey coast . Are you snowed in ? Share photos and videos

Delaware Gov. Jack Markell declared a state of emergency Friday night and ordered all vehicles off the roads by 10 p.m. ET .

Forecasters were predicting that the mountains of West Virginia and Maryland , west of the nation 's capital , would receive the most snow -- possibly 3 feet .

CNN 's Greg Morrison , Suzanne Malveaux and Angela Fritz contributed to this report .

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NEW : Hundreds of thousands without electricity from Virginia to Pennsylvania

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NEW : Flights canceled at Washington-Baltimore area airports , as wells as Philadelphia 's

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NEW : 26.7 inches reported at the Philadelphia , airport by 1 p.m.

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Delta joins Southwest , Amtrak in canceling services in the affected region